Liquid Starch Recipe

I think I posted a few months ago about making my own starch. I use a lot of starch in my quilt piecing. I like the fabric to be as stiff as paper, especially when I'm working with triangles. The problem with my original starch recipe is that it didn't fully dissolve and sometimes left a white residue on the fabric. That didn't bother me because I always wash the completed quilt....but it drove my Mom nuts when she was here and we were working on our "Quilts on the Double" quilts. She and her sister looked through my Grandma's recipe book to see if her starch recipe was recorded. It wasn't. So a search of the web for several recipes resulted in this new recipe that works much better!

If you decided to make your own starch, only make what you can use in a day or 2. It does go rancid. I seem to use a little more than a cup in an average cutting session.

1. Put 1 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. While waiting for the water to boil, dissolve 2 - 3 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of cold water in a cup or small bowl. Keep mixing the cornstarch while waiting for the water to boil.

3. After the water boils, pour the cornstarch mixture into the boiling water and stir for a minute or so. The liquid will be clear or slightly cloudy.

4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

5. Transfer the starch mixture to a spray bottle and starch away! Throw it out after a couple of days.

Comments

[lisa thiessen]

Thanks for the starch recipe. It means a lot to us Canucks after learning from Sharon Schamber that Canada is where the US sends all it's bad spray starch! I mean it was nice of her to let us in on it, but we were given no recourse of action...you've given us northern piecers HOPE. Thanks.
:)
Lisa

[Wanda]

I have never starched my fabric. I don't prewash so the original sizing does a good job. I used starch in an applique class one time where we used it on the turned under edge. Does your recipe burn if the iron it too hot? That was what happened on the spray starch that I purchased for class.

[minou]

Thanks for the recipe. My Grandmother use to make her own starch, but her recipe was lost somewhere in time.

Suzanne

[Debra Spincic]

This might be a good solution for strengthening fabric before I machine embroider on it. I am going to try it and will report back! Thanks, V!

[Carole Meier]

Thanks for the recipe! Lisa's funny! You know I had no clue who Sharon Schamber was until I attended MQX. I wonder where she got that information. lol Well, I just won't buy my spray starch from Canada anymore. lol Hey, does it have to be American corn starch? lol thanks for sharing. It's a lot cheaper to make you own than to use Ellen's Best Press. ;o)

[Holly]

Does this recipe work with crafts such as string art? Like a string pumpkin or a string snowman? Is it stiff enough after it dries? Thanks, Holly